The Bastard’s Betrayal by Katee Robert

Chapter 22

There were a thousand reasons this wouldn’t work. It wasn’t as if Dante had declared his undying love, even if he called Rose beloved. She wasn’t sure a man like him was capable of love at all. But as he leaned forward and licked her clit, she decided that it didn’t fucking matter. She’d never felt for another person the way she felt for Dante Verducci.

This would undoubtedly blow up in her face, but everything was already exploding. Why not light another match?

He bit her thigh. “You’re thinking too hard.”

“Do something about it, then.”

Something flickered through his dark eyes, something like wonder, and he dragged her down to straddle him, dug his hands into her hair, and claimed her mouth. All her thoughts and worries were swept away in an avalanche of lust. She ground down against him, but it wasn’t enough. It was never enough with Dante. He was a fire in her blood, consuming everything. Maybe she should worry about that, but she couldn’t bring herself to care, not with him pressing against her entrance.

“Amata—”

But it was too late. She was already working herself onto his cock. The blow job had turned her on, and his tongue had only heightened her pleasure, but she still wasn’t quite ready for his size. She didn’t care. If anything, the near-painful stretch just grounded her further in the moment. Rose braced her hands on Dante’s shoulders and swiveled her hips, sinking another inch. “Do I feel good, d’yavol? Tight and wet and made just for you?”

His grip spasmed on her hips, but he didn’t drag her the rest of the way down his cock like she expected. “You are made just for me.” His low voice made her pussy tighten, and she moaned. He didn’t stop there, though. “Beautiful. Cunning. Brutal. Violent. You’re my match, Rosa Romanov. You’re mine.” He surged forward and dragged his mouth over her throat and up to her ear. “And I’m yours.”

She couldn’t breathe. She wasn’t sure she even needed to with his words buoying her. “You’re madder than the Mad Wolf.”

“Si.” He thrust up a little, spearing her another few inches. “You know that for the asset it is.”

She did. Dear god, she did. He would never balk at doing what needed to be done. She’d never have to explain her reasonings or justify the lengths she’d go to protect her family and her people. Rose slammed the rest of the way onto him, moaning at the feeling of them being sealed together fully. “We do this, there’s no going back, Dante. No changing your mind. No betraying me.”

“Never.” He used his hold on her hair to bend her back and lavish her breasts with rough kisses. “I’ve made up my mind.”

Rose was terrified that she had as well.

She slid a hand between them to stroke her clit, and Dante growled against her skin and set his teeth against the underside of her right breast. “I fucking love when you do that.” He looped an arm around her lower back and held her tight to him as he bore her to the floor.

She expected… She wasn’t sure what she expected because he kissed her and slowed them down, fucking her with a ruthless gentleness that had her toes curling. It didn’t matter how much she squirmed or tried to move, she was helpless to do more than take what he gave her. Slow, pleasurable waves that edged her closer and closer to orgasm. Every stroke had her clit grinding against him, a steady beat… “Don’t stop, d’yavol.”

“Never.” He traced the shell of her ear with his tongue. “You’re mine, amata. I’ll always give you what you need.”

A promise she had no business believing, and yet she couldn’t stop the surge in her chest in response to it. “Give me what I need now.”

He didn’t pick up his pace, didn’t change his stroke, just kept fucking her in exactly the way she needed. Rose tried to hold out, but her body was too primed for him, and he was hitting all her spots too perfectly. She clutched his back and buried her face in his neck as she orgasmed.

Dante shifted back just enough to claim her mouth, to swallow her sobs and moans, and he got rougher, chasing his own pleasure. He broke the kiss with a gasp. “In or out, Rose?”

No misunderstanding his meaning. This, too, was symbolic in its own way. “Come in me, d’yavol. Fill me up.”

“Ti amo così fottutamente tanto, amata.” He kissed her, making her head spin even as his thrusts lost their rhythm and he ground into her, coming hard. “I love you, Rose Romanov.”

I love you, too.

She couldn’t say it aloud. Not yet. It felt like promising something she wasn’t sure she should promise. Admitting she’d fallen for Dante even harder than she’d fallen for Jackson wasn’t the same as agreeing to marry him, but it wasn’t far off, either.

They lay there, entangled in the most perfect way possible, as the sweat on their bodies cooled and their heartbeats returned to normal. Rose turned her head and pressed a kiss to Dante’s jaw. “Let me up. I need to shower before I go home.” The longer she stayed here, the harder it would be to leave.

“Stay.”

“I can’t.” If her family woke up and she was gone, there’d be hell to pay. She needed to play things correctly, to break this news to her parents in the most favorable way possible, and it wouldn’t be by sneaking around, acting like a foolish teenager.

Dante eased off her and took her hand, tugging her to her feet. “I am not spending the next few months sneaking around while you work up the courage to tell your family. You have a week.”

She blinked. “You don’t get to decide that timeline.”

“Rosa.” He held her gaze. “Either you choose this, or you don’t. If you do, then straddling the line only gives your enemies longer to prepare and catch you unawares. Decisive action is required.”

Her stomach dropped out. He wasn’t wrong, but… “Easy for you to say. You’ve already made your choice. When your cousin takes over, he’ll give you carte blanche to do whatever the fuck you want. You don’t have the same responsibilities that I do.”

Dante didn’t move. “Do you think that would make a single fucking difference to me if I did?”

She opened her mouth to say yes but couldn’t quite get the answer out. He was so single-minded when it came to her. Even if he’d been heir instead of the muscle, would that have changed any of the events that led them here? “I’m not like you. Not when it comes to my family.”

“Si.” He finally released her from his intense look and headed into the bathroom, leaving her to trail behind. “But that doesn’t change the fact that you know attempting to avoid what comes next will only make it worse.”

He was right, and she hated that he was right. “We need to figure out a way around Romeo Capparelli. That’s the biggest hurdle right now, aside from your uncle.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

She stared up into his face and waited for doubt to come. This thing between them wasn’t rational. It wasn’t a good idea from the outside looking in. Anyone from their respective lives would agree… “What does your cousin think of all this?”

“He’s not happy with me.” Dante turned on the shower and held his hand under the spray, testing the temperature. “He’ll get over it.”

“What if he doesn’t?”

He shrugged. “When I marry you, I get excommunicated from the family on all official channels.”

Rose jolted. “What? Dante, they’re your family. You can’t do that. Not for me.”

“I’m more than capable of making those decisions and weighing the cost on my own, amata.” He grabbed her hand and stepped into the shower, tugging her after him. “My relationship with my cousin is separate from family business.”

“I don’t understand that,” she said faintly. “How can you separate family and Family?” She loved her various aunts and uncles and cousins. But she never stopped being aware that while they were connected by blood and marriage, there was a marked difference between Romanov and O’Malley and Sheridan. A part of her always watched what she said around extended family.

And her parents? Her sisters? No matter the bonds that held them, it was understood that their first responsibility was to their power base and territory. Toward the greater good, as it related to their goals. It was why her parents had laid out exactly one option once they discovered her boyfriend was actually Dante Verducci. It was why she hadn’t flinched at marrying a man who was basically an enemy. It was why Lorelei hadn’t hesitated to do whatever it took to prevent their peace talks from being derailed—even marrying the man Rose was supposed to.

If the choice came down to her family or literally anything else, she would choose family.

“No one’s asking you to make that choice.” He pressed a quick kiss to her lips and stepped away to start soaping himself up. “The Verducci family kicked my mother out when she needed them the most because they didn’t want their reputation tarnished. I have exactly as much loyalty as my history with them requires.”

“But—”

“You don’t have to understand it. Matteo and I do. It’s enough.”

She wanted to press, but the truth was that he was right. She didn’t have to understand it, not if she trusted Dante. And she did. Her mind could think of hundreds of reasons trusting him was a terrible idea, but her gut, her heart? They believed this man entirely. “What if Romeo kills you?”

“He won’t.”

“You don’t know that.”

He gave a brief smile and ducked under the spray, rinsing quickly. “Si, amata, I do. Romeo is too smart to throw away a potential tool. It’s simply a matter of convincing him I’m useful.”

“How—”

He gave her another quick kiss. “Trust me.”

She wanted a full explanation on what he planned, but the fact was she didn’t have time. Rose washed off quickly and followed him out of the shower to dry off. They dressed in silence, which was just as well because her mind whirled into dead end after dead end of how she was going to pull this off. Her parents wanted Dante dead. Anya wanted Dante dead, which was even more worrisome. Pitching this to them had to be done carefully, or they’d just override her and rush off to put a bullet between his beautiful eyes.

After braiding her wet hair away from her face, she turned to Dante. “Don’t die, d’yavol. I’m not done with you yet.”

He gave her a wolfish grin. “Not even hell could keep me from you, amata.” Dante kissed her, hard and brief. “Now go. Before I change my mind and drag you into bed.”

As tempting as that was, she needed to go home. They had to play this right if they wanted even the smallest chance of succeeding, and that meant being in her own bed when the rest of the Romanov house woke up. “Be safe.”

“You, too.”

Rose left the hotel room with her heart in her throat. Vasily waited out in the hallway, their hands clasped behind their back. They raised their eyebrows at her. “Getting late.”

“I know. Let’s hurry.”

They made it back home just as dawn had begun to break up the darkness of the sky. Late, but also far too early. She was in for a rough day after not sleeping, but she didn’t care. It was worth it. Now all she needed to do was figure out how to present to her parents that Dante could be an asset. He was on an individual level, of course. No one could argue that. But his connections and family made it complicated and mostly outweighed the good.

They’d find a way through.

What a novel thought. She wasn’t sure exactly when she started thinking of them as a team, and the very idea felt a little strange in her head, but she couldn’t deny how right it felt.

The first indication that something was wrong was the light on in the kitchen. She barely had time to brace herself when her father stepped out from the doorway. Rose glanced at Vasily, and they nodded and headed back into the garage. This was a family affair.

Rose crossed her arms over her chest. “Were you waiting in a dark doorway to step dramatically out into the light, Papa? Such theatrics are beneath you.”

He didn’t smile. “Tell me it isn’t true.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” A bluff and not even a good one.

Papa nodded at the kitchen island. “Sit down.”

She didn’t know if it was a good thing that he hadn’t hauled her to his office for a lecture, but this felt worse somehow. She tried to tell herself she was a grown woman who didn’t have to answer to her father about where she’d been, but the defense rang flat and false. This wasn’t a normal situation, and Rose wasn’t a normal woman.

She sat.

He moved to the stove and put the kettle on. Maybe in other families this kind of conversation would call for a drink, but Mama had a history of alcoholism. It didn’t bother her anymore when people drank around her, but Papa still had a rule against having alcohol in the house to save her from having to deal with it. As a result, when things were about to get serious, he made tea.

She sat in silence while he pulled two mugs down and got to work making their tea. Peppermint for her. Ginger-turmeric for him. He took the seat next to her and blew gently on the steam curling up from his mug. “Your entire life, you have always put the family first, Roza. You’ve been a worthy heir.”

She couldn’t help a bitter laugh. “That hasn’t saved me from Jovan putting a target on my forehead.”

“There was always the chance it would come to this.” He didn’t look at her. “It’s going to get ugly. We might lose people. We need every ally in our corner we can manage, and that means bringing the other Romanov branches over to our side.”

She knew he was right, but she couldn’t help arguing. “They’re in Texas, California, and Washington. They might as well be in Russia for all they can help.”

“And yet Russia is where the threat lies.” He picked up his mug. “If they offer Jovan’s people a stateside base of operations, it will make a difference, Roza. It might make the difference. We cannot afford to alienate any of them now.” He finally looked at her. “What you are doing with Dante Verducci will alienate Kirill. It might be enough for him to do more than be a passive spectator in the coming conflict. We cannot afford to have that happen.”

“Papa—”

“I’m not finished.” He didn’t raise his voice, but ice frosted his tone. “In addition to potentially causing problems with our American extended family, there is also your sister and the Capparelli family to consider. If Romeo discovers where you were tonight, who you were with, he may very well go forward with a war declaration. Should that happen, Lorelei will bear the cost.”

The thought made her sick to her stomach. Lorelei was already bearing the cost, but Papa was right; if they went to war, there would be nothing protecting her from her new husband. They’d have no recourse if he harmed her—if he…killed her.

In the face of that, Dante’s reassurances that they would find a way through felt flat. How could they, when so much was stacked against them? She cupped her hands around her mug, letting the heat battle the chill taking root in her chest. “There has to be a way.”

“Roza…” Papa sighed. “I can understand the draw. He’s dangerous and obviously focused intensely on you. There’s a thrill that comes from being on the same level as someone who is your match.”

Like Papa and Mama.

She stared down at her tea, the feeling in her chest getting worse. “It doesn’t really matter if I’m drawn to him or not, does it? Because the circumstances won’t allow for us to be together. You won’t allow us to be together.”

“I’m sorry.” He actually sounded like he meant it. Papa clasped her shoulder. “We talk about the sacrifices one makes for family with a sense of glamor, but it doesn’t mean they’re a pleasant experience.”

She wanted to yell at him, to rail about how unfair this was. Papa had broken all the rules time and time again in his pursuit of Mama when they were younger. He hadn’t given a fuck if he entered into a war with everyone in his path because he wanted her and meant to have her.

Things were different back then, though. There was only one Romanov in New York, so he had little to lose beyond his life. Now, if there were a war, the casualty list could be their entire family. Her parents. Her sisters. Her people.

She closed her eyes. “I understand.”

Rose left her father drinking tea in the kitchen and retreated to her bedroom. There was no solace to be found within those four walls. She paced back and forth, her father’s word warring with her aunt’s.

The smart thing to do was to cut things off with Dante. When she laid the facts down and took emotions out of the picture, the only rational way forward was without him. That was the problem, though. There was nothing rational about her connection with this man. There hadn’t been from the start.

An hour later, she had no more answers. She kept going around and around, treading water until it felt like she might drown. Rose closed her eyes. She owed him a conversation, at least. Even if it was only to say goodbye.